Clarity
by Honey Lemons
Summary: When she was 15 years old, Charlie Grimes was forced to pack up her things and move away from her home in New York without saying goodbye to those who knew her best. Flash forward two years and now Charlie is back, and about to get entangled in one hell of a web.


The mousy-haired boy sat at his desk, hand on his computer mouse while he clicked and clicked, moving the pointer as he touched up the photographs he had taken just a few hours prior. Normally, he didn't believe in air-brushing but sometimes it was necessary. Sort of like ironing out the creases, so to speak.

He clicked 'save' on his final image and minimized the Photoshop window, his eyes then falling on his desktop wallpaper. On his screen was an image of a younger version of himself – smaller with shorter hair, though not totally unrecognisable – with his arm around another's shoulders. His mouth was halfway open in a laugh and his eyes were on his companion; a slightly bewildered look on his face. The girl in the photograph was a few months younger than him, with blue eyes and a toothy grin. Her arm was outstretched and a small piece of black material could be seen in the bottom corner of the image. A faint smile spread across his lips as he remembered how she had just randomly taken his camera from around his neck and made him pose for the photo with her. It was safe to say that she had caught him slightly off guard.

The slight happiness he had felt as he gazed at the photo then faded away as cold, hard reality hit him in the face once more.

She wasn't there any more. She was gone. Just packed up her things and left without so much as a "see you later." The boy could still remember how he felt when he had discovered that the girl had moved away. He had intended on making the short trip next door to visit his friend when his Aunt May had asked where he was going. When he replied, the look on her face told him that something wasn't right

"Her family had to move away", he was told. "Family issues", he was told. "She'll be back once everything is resolved," he was told. To say he was angry would be an understatement. Okay, so they weren't _best_ friends. They didn't hang out 24/7 and it's not like they were dating but they _had_ been next-door neighbours since he moved in with his Aunt and Uncle. His guardians were friends with her mother – close friends, actually. So of course there was going to be_some_ sort of bond.

But maybe he was the only one who thought that. Maybe they weren't friends like he thought they were. She had Gwen, after all. _She_ was her best friend. She had her little brother, she had her mother. Maybe he was just more of an acquaintance.

That was the conclusion he came to a few days after the revelation. And when a week passed and his phone rang, he refused to answer it. Just carried on with whatever he was doing that day. Eventually it stopped and didn't ring again until a few days later. He ignored it then, too. His phone rang every few days for at least a month and each time, after a quick glance at the caller ID, he didn't pick up. He didn't answer the texts – just let them pile up in his inbox before reading through them all in one sitting and deleting them afterwards. They were mainly just messages asking him to just_ 'pick up the phone, goddammit_.'

Aunt May had tried to get him to stop sulking but he refused. He would stop sulking whenever he felt like it. That moment of clarity came 5 months later. But by then, the phone had stopped ringing.

A knock on his bedroom door knocked him out of his reverie.

"Peter?" Aunt May said, sticking her head through the small gap she had made in the door. "Our new neighbours just came over for a visit so get cleaned up and come straight down, okay?"

That caused Peter to frown. New neighbours? He hadn't heard anything about that. And quite frankly, the "idea of another family living in his old friend's house wasn't one that he found himself liking.

"New neighbours?" he repeated.

"Just come down as soon as you can, okay?" Aunt May said, a slight smirk on her face. "I think you'll like them."

* * *

><p>When Peter came downstairs around 10 minutes later, the last person he expected to see in his living room was her. She was just sitting there, talking to his Uncle Ben with a smile on her face as her little brother Matthew tried to pull the attention back to himself.<p>

Peter's footsteps faltered in the door way which caused all heads to turn towards him. Four faces smiled back at him, while the other looked somewhat nervous.

"Wh-what's going on?" Peter stuttered out. Not exactly his best entrance... but surprisingly, not his worst.

"Peter, these are our new neighbours. I'm sure you remember them," Ben grinned.

"Charlie?" Peter questioned slowly.

"Hi, Peter," Charlie replied, letting a small yet nervous smile spread across her lips.

The room then fell into an awkward silence, as the two friends looked at each other from across the room. Thankfully, May chose to speak up and save them all.

"Peter, why don't you take Charlie up to your room? I'm sure you've both got a lot of catching up to do."

Seemingly unable to speak, Peter just nodded and gestured widely to the stairs. "Y-yeah, sure. Let's, uh, let's go."

With a nervous laugh, Charlie stood up – pausing to ruffle Matthew's hair – and followed Peter up the familiar stairs to his bedroom. He closed the door after they entered and she found herself hovering awkwardly in the middle of the room. Should she sit on his bed or his desk chair? Should she even sit down at all? Why was she feeling so nervous?

"You can, uh, take a seat," Peter said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously as he sat in his desk chair.

"Right," Charlie smiled slightly as she perched on the end of Peter's bed.

Another silence followed and it became almost like a competition to see who could break it first. Several questions swirled around in their heads and neither knew which one to ask first. Peter spoke first.

"So, you're back," he said before inwardly cringing. _Way to state the obvious, Peter._

"Yeah," Charlie nodded before letting out a sigh. "Look, Peter, I'm sorry for leaving. I mean, I tried calling you but you never answered and then I tried texting but you didn't answer me then either, and then I called May because I though _she_ could convince you to talk to me but then _that_ didn't work and I just –"

"Just tell me why," Peter interrupted.

"Why?"

"Why you left. I mean, I was told there was some kind of "family issue" but that's it. I didn't get an explanation from you or from anybody else. I didn't even get a goodbye."

"My grandmother was sick," Charlie frowned, her gaze falling to her hands in her lap. "She had MS, and my mom wanted to be closer to her as soon as possible, y'know? To help out."

Peter felt like he had been punched in the gut. That's what he had gotten angry over. Something that was out of Charlie's control. Something that could have happened to anybody.

"Grandma Lizzie?" he questioned weakly.

A nod was all he got in response.

"I'm sorry, Charlie... I'm such an idiot, I was angry that you left so I ignored any attempts you made to contact me and the entire time, your grandmother was sick? God," Peter leant forward, running his hands over his face in frustration. "So then, why are you back? What happened?"

Charlie lifted her shoulders in a shrug, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip. "She died, Pete."

Peter's face crumpled. "I'm so sorry, Charlie."

"Don't be," Charlie answered honestly. "If I were you, I probably would have done the same thing. I mean, you didn't know, right? Anyway, Grandma Lizzie knew that Matty and I missed home, so she told us that once she was gone, we should move back. Back to our old life, our old friends. So that we could be happy again. I guess my mom agreed."

"Charlotte!" Ben's voice came from the bottom of the stairs. He always preferred to call her by her full name. "Time to go, sweetheart. Your mom wants you."

"Coming!" Charlie yelled back. With a glance at Peter, she stood up from the bed and made her way towards the door. "It was really good to see you again, Peter. Maybe we could start again soon? Rekindle that old friendship of ours?"

Peter let out a small chuckle at her attempt at a joke and nodded his head kindly. "Yeah, that sounds good."

With one last smile, Charlie left the room, and Peter sank back in his chair and let out a breath. He certainly hadn't expected his day to go that way at all, but then again, life was full of surprises, right? A smile graced his lips when his hand knocked against his computer mouse and brought his desktop to life once more.

He finally had a chance to update his wallpaper now.

* * *

><p>"Rise and shine, Charlie!" yelled Matthew as he jumped up and down on her single bed. "We've got school!"<p>

_Ugh, what kind of 12 year old gets excited about school?_ Charlie thought.

"Yeah, okay, kid. I'm up, I'm up," Charlie groaned as she attempted to rub the sleep out of her eyes. Matthew seemed satisfied then and ran off to get changed out of his own pyjamas and get ready for his own day.

_So, he wakes me up and then runs off, huh? Little twerp._

With a sigh, Charlie swung her legs out of bed and got ready almost robotically. She was used to this routine by now – after all, she was 17 years old – and by the time she walked downstairs, all she had to do was grab something to eat and be on her way.

"Morning, sweetie," smiled Emily as she watched her daughter grab an apple from the fruit bowl. "May said that Peter would walk with you to school this morning. That'll be nice, right?"

"Yeah, and not awkward in the slightest," Charlie drawled out through a mouthful of fruit.

Emily rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "I'm sure it'll be fine. Now go on, I think he's waiting outside for you. And just remember to smile. You get to see Gwen today, remember?"

Now that _did_ bring a smile to her face. Of course she'd kept in contact with her blonde best friend during their time apart but it just wasn't the same as actually seeing her. She couldn't wait to get back to their old ways.

"Morning," Peter smiled when Charlie walked outside with her backpack on and apple in hand. "You look happy."

"I just remembered that I get to see Gwen today," the brunette smiled, taking another bite of her breakfast as they started their walk to school. "So, yeah, I'm pretty happy. As happy as someone on their way to school can be, anyway."

"Yeah, I'm sure she missed you a lot," Peter chuckled before hesitating slightly. "I know I did."

Charlie's heart swelled slightly at his words... Metaphorically, of course. "I missed you, too, Peter."

Peter grinned, before clearing his throat slightly and setting his expression to impassive. "So, what have you been up to since you got back?"

"Unpacking, mostly," Charlie said with a roll of her eyes. "I haven't had much to do yet. Though I know Gwen has been totally bragging about me all over Oscorp so I think I may have a job in the works."

"Really?" Peter replied, his eyebrows raised. "That's great."

"You don't need to sound so surprised," joked Charlie. "My science skills haven't disappeared over the last two years, y'know."

"Oh, of course not. That would be a travesty," Peter joked back with a small grin.

"So, I see you're still into photography," Charlie gestured to the familiar camera that was slung around his neck and throwing her apple core into a trash can with her free hand.

"Yeah," Peter nodded, his hands instinctively lifting the camera up slightly.

"I'm sure you've only gotten better with age."

"You're making me sound like an old man," Peter chuckled.

"I thought you were one?" Charlie joked, a faux-frown on her face.

Peter laughed and shook his head at her antics. "Hey, I'm only a few months older than you!"

Any retort she might have had was cut off by the sound of a frantic voice calling her name. "Charlotte! Charlie!"

"Looks like Gwen has noticed you're back," Peter smiled, gesturing towards the blonde that was currently running towards them like an Olympian. "I should probably go now."

Charlie nodded, a smile on her face as she watched Gwen narrowly dodge someone who had their eyes glued to their phone. "Yeah, sure. I'll see you around?"

"Yeah, of course." And with that, he was off.

"CHARLIE!"

Charlie only had the chance to turn her head back towards the sound before she was ambushed by an extremely excited blonde girl. "I missed you so much!"

Charlie laughed and hugged her best friend back as tight as she could. "I missed you, too!"

"I'm so happy to see you!" Gwen smiled, looping her arm with Charlie's and walking towards the school building. "It's nice to see you talking to Peter again. I know how upset he was after you left."

"Yeah, we kinda sorted things out yesterday," Charlie shrugged. She at least _hoped_ they had sorted things out yesterday.

"Well, now that you've gotten that cleared up, we have to hang out ASAP, okay? I'm not sure if you noticed but I seriously missed my best friend!" Gwen pouted dramatically as they headed towards the lockers.

Charlie just laughed.

* * *

><p>It was lunch time now and Charlie and Gwen were chattering away to each other as they both ate their lunches. Charlie had fallen back into her New York routine pretty simply, and the majority of people at the school remembered her, so at least things weren't super awkward when it came to classes. She was already more than halfway through the day now, and was more than ready to just go home and relax for a while.<p>

Charlie's attention was then pulled away from her conversation when she heard a commotion coming from her right. Both she and Gwen turned to see a crowd that had begun to form and shared a befuddled look. What was that about?

Grabbing their bags, they both stood and pushed their way to the front of the group. Charlie's eyes widened as she saw Flash – he certainly hadn't changed – holding a poor freshman up and shoving his face into a plate of questionable food.

"Take a picture, Parker," Flash called out. Charlie hadn't even noticed that Peter was standing to her left until then.

"Put him down, Flash," Peter replied with a shake of his head.

_Good, Peter. Don't stoop to his level_, Charlie thought.

"Take a picture!" Flash repeated.

"Put him down," Peter glanced around at the growing crowd before finishing his sentence loudly._"Eugene!"_

The crowed fell silent and even Charlie found herself gaping at Peter. That was a brave move. Well, brave or stupid. Charlie wasn't sure which one outweighed the other.

Flash then threw the poor freshman – Gordon, apparently – to the ground and stomped his way over to Peter, a look of fury on his face. Before she had a chance to register what was happening, Charlie saw Flash swing his fist back and hit Peter right in the face.

Poor Peter fell to the ground and Flash still continued to yell at him, sending a swift kick to Peter's abdomen. "Come on! Get up, Parker! Get up! Come on!"

Peter groaned, in obvious pain, but still managed to speak again. "I'm still not taking the picture."

_Goddammit, Peter. Quit while you're ahead... Or on the floor, at least._

Finally, Charlie decided she couldn't watch any more, and pushed herself in between Peter and Flash. She just barely heard Gwen squeak out her name when she moved.

"Stop it, Flash! That's enough!" she called out, holding up a placating hand. "How about showing everyone that you're not just a mindless Neanderthal by actually going to class, huh?"

Flash didn't look any happier, but the bell had just rung and he couldn't bring himself to hurt a girl. And so, he found himself backing off, and walking away with his group of friends.

The crowd had started to disperse then – Gwen making a quick statement saying that she would call her friend later before running off – as Charlie fell to the ground next to Peter.

"God, are you okay?"

"That was stupid," Peter frowned as he looked at the remnants of his camera.

"I know, Flash is an idiot," Charlie agreed.

"No, you," Peter replied, forcing a frown onto Charlie's face. "You shouldn't have done that; you could've gotten hurt."

"Oh, c'mon, Peter, I'm fine. Flash may be an ass but even he wouldn't hit a girl."

"You never know," Peter sighed through the pain.

"Sorry about your camera," Charlie bit her lip as she helped the taller boy stand. "Will you be able to fix it?"

Peter shrugged. "I don't know – maybe."

"You should probably go to the nurse," Charlie decided as she looked at the gash on his face. "That looks pretty bad."

Peter just shook his head before wincing at the quick movement. "Nah, I'm fine."

"Peter, you're not fine," Charlie argued before reaching into her bag and pulling out a bottle of cold water. "At least take this."

"Charlie, I don't need –"

"_Take it_," the girl insisted, practically shoving the bottle into his hands. Peter relented, and held the bottle up to the growing bruise on his face. It definitely helped to soothe the pain – even if it was just momentarily.

"Thanks," he smiled weakly.

"Standing up to Flash was really brave, y'know," Charlie said as she picked up Peter's bag from the ground and made her way back towards the building. "Incredibly stupid, but also brave."

Peter didn't comment, instead choosing to raise his eyebrows at the girl's actions. "I'm pretty sure the guy is supposed to carry the girl's bags."

Charlie scoffed.

"Yeah, well, little Peter has a boo boo. So suck it up and deal with it. You can prove your masculinity some other time."

Oh, she had no idea.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Welcome to Charlie's world!**


End file.
